We are pleased to release the OST by Carlo Savina for the Spaghetti Westerns “The Stranger and the Gunfighter” (original title: “Là dove non batte il sole”)and “An Animal Called Man” (original title: “Un animale chiamato uomo”)for the absolute first time on CD, in complete edition.

THE STRANGER AND THE GUNFIGHTER

Carlo Savina wrote an enjoyable OST lasting 40:08 minutes, dominated by three main themes. One is a vibrant orchestral motif in Western-style beat for the character of Dakota, the mature gunslinger played by Lee Van Cleef. It is introduced in the opening credits (Tr.1) and reprised in Tr.10, Tr.13, Tr.21. The second is an oriental style theme for the character of young Wong-Kiang (Lo) with sounds which are sometimes dramatic and heroic (Tr.2, Tr.6, Tr.7, Tr.8, Tr.15). And finally a pleasant love theme for Wong-Kiang and the beautiful Lia-Kua, where the wonderful voice of Edda Dell'Orso (Tr.9, Tr.12) chimes in. There is also no shortage of lounge music like a pop bossa (Tr.3), action music (Tr.19) and the guaranteed saloon pieces (Tr.11, Tr.18). For this recovery and preservation, the stereo master tapes from the original recording session were used.

Wong, a wealthy Chinese banker living in California, gets killed by a thief (Dakota) who is trying to rob him. But in Wong’s safe Dakota only finds a thousand dollars and pictures of four women. Meanwhile, a rich warlord who lives in China takes the Wong family hostage and threatens to kill them unless they give back all the money he had entrusted to Wong in hopes of getting rich in America. So Wong’s nephew, Wong-Kiang, who is an expert wrestler, leaves for California to find his uncle’s fortune. He teams up with Dakota to follow the clues to the fortune which are tattooed on the 4 women from the pictures. Eventually they manage to track down the women, the last of which is a Chinese girl named Lia-Kua (Yeh). Once Wong-Kiang is back in China, he finds the treasure inside a statue that his uncle had sent to China. After he returns the fortune to the warlord, his family is released and Wong-Kiang marries Lia-Kua.

AN ANIMAL CALLED MAN

Carlo Savina wrote an upbeat OST lasting 24:29 minutes, where an amusing and light hearted motif comes through. It is introduced in the opening credits (Tr.22), and is then reprised slower and faster (Tr.23), and as a shake with organ (Tr.27). It is alternated with a romantic love theme with the voice of Nora Orlandi (Tr.25) as well as with saloon pieces (Tr.24, Tr.28, Tr.30). For this recovery and preservation, the stereo master tapes from the original recording session were used.

Linguaveloce (fast tongue), named for his ability to throw punches even though he has a speech impediment, and Bill Manolesta come to Silver City, which is under the control of Mark Foster and his gang of money extortionists. Manolesta gets in a shooting contest against Foster and wins five hundred dollars and a beautiful girl, Yvette ("First Prize"), who had come from Paris with a hint of hope and a degree in medicine. Manolesta and Linguaveloce come up with a plan to contend with Foster by pretending to be his collectors. Linguaveloce has some doubts about the plan, but Manolesta convinces him to let him do it because he says he’ll give back the ill-gotten gains. A series of fights with Foster and his gang follows, along with ambushes, brawls and some casualties. Foster is assassinated by his lieutenant and the two heroes kill off the rest of the gang, then give in to the wishes of the townsfolk who reward them but beg them to leave forever, fearing that they will turn from liberators into tyrants. Yvette goes with them.